ST BARTHOLOMEW’S ANGLICAN CHURCH, ST BARTH, F.W.I.
The Anchor DECEMBER 2014 Welcome to the December 2014 edition of The Anchor, which includes Father Charlie’s Annual Church Newslettter and gives details of our services and other events over the Christmas period. This means that it has been a year since this parish bulletin was first launched, and we are pleased to report that it has been well received. Remember, it is YOUR magazine, and since we now produce it in A4 size, we have room for even more articles! If you would like to submit an article for inclusion, please do so. Likewise, please let us know if there is anything you would like to see in the magazine. We value your input. Wishing all our readers, both near and far, seasons greetings.
Sundays at 9am A contemporary service, filled with music and prayer
Tuesdays at 7pm Meditative chants in a candlelit & peaceful setting
Wednesdays at 10am A lively discussion group all are welcome
Thursdays at 7pm A bilingual group that has silent reflection at its core
Letter from the Vicar Dear Friends And so we now begin a new church year which starts with the season of advent. This is a wonderful time to reflect on where we are on our spiritual journey and a time to make space for the Christ child to be born again in our hearts. Christmas is also a time for us to celebrate the wonderful gift of family and friends. But we also need to think of and reach out to those for whom Christmas is a lonely affair! For those who are without family who may feel a real sense of loneliness during this season! Sadly, Mandie and I will not be on island this Christmas but will be back again in mid-January. We’re incredibly fortunate to have persuaded the Revd Dr John and Mackie Rice to come and celebrate and share this wonderful period with you. We are so grateful to them for doing this. As usual, we will have our service of lessons and carols at 6:30pm on Christmas Eve, as well as holding a special Christmas celebration Eucharist service at 9am. We are also fortunate to have a guest pianist, Kosta Popovic, playing for our Christmas church services. Kosta has also agreed to perform a concert at the Church, alongside some of our own local very talented musicians, on Sunday 28th December at 6:30pm. A great time for you to enjoy the music and then go out to dinner! Kosta will, of course, be working closely with our new director of music, Ombeline Collin. Mandie and I wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. With blessings.
Wed 24th Dec at 6.30pm Traditional Lessons & Carols with the Nativity Scene
Thursday 25th Dec at 9am Come and celebrate the Birth of Jesus with us
Sunday 28th Dec at 6.30pm Piano, violin & choral concert in the Church
Thursday 1st Jan at 3pm Games in the Garden croquet & scrabble Please visit our NEW web site … The same address but lots of improved features, including Sermon Podcasts! www.stbartholomewsanglicanchurch.com
If you would like to receive The Anchor when you are not on the island, please do send us your email address.
Editor: Philip Trangmar info.stbartholomews@gmail.com Tel: 0690 54 17 99
Contents: The Church Year - page 2 A Christmas Tradition - page 3 Sermon Podcasts - page 4 AA Group Meetings - page 4
The Church Year - by Father Charlie
Dear Friends As I sit down to write this Newsletter, the weather in St Barths is now calming, the heat is retreating to a wonderfully comfortable level and the Church year is coming to an end. Advent is nearly upon us and Christmas will be here before we can even blink! Maybe it’s my age but the years seem to pass so quickly these days! It’s been an active and exciting year for the Church with many new initiatives, an increasing congregation, both visiting and local alike, and with some exciting initiatives which I will detail later in this letter. It’s also been an extraordinary year for both the worldwide church and the wider global community. In some senses, the world feels more dangerous today than it has done for many decades! We have witnessed scenes of unspeakable brutality and evil in the seemingly relentless advance of ISIS. The appalling brutality of beheadings, crucifixions, kidnappings, mass rape and torture all based on an apparent ideology which can be nothing other than totally alien and grotesquely offensive to the One we call God – the One that ISIS apparently purports to represent! It is really terrifying how easily an ideology can be manipulated and particularly amongst the vulnerable and easily influenced. We only have to look at the numbers of “Jihadists” that are being recruited from countries throughout the western world – from Europe, from the USA, from the Far East, Africa and from so many other countries. Why does this phenomenon bedevil our world? Is it a question of politics, of economics, of religion, of culture? Or is it that humanity is always capable of acts Page 2
of unspeakable wrong but also of extraordinary goodness? God gives us the choice and we so often make the wrong one. We are also witnessing what seems like an echo of the past in the conflict in The Ukraine. This isn’t so much about two countries battling for territory but rather about empires trying to rebuild themselves. It is dangerous and we must pray and act in a way that helps us to find seemingly invisible bridges that can bring peace and stability to our evermore dangerous world.
At the same time as all of this, we see today, a world that is more divided than ever between rich and poor. The gulf between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ is now all too easy for everybody to see – via the internet, social media and so many other forms of electronic communication. The young boy in Pakistan, being educated at a Madras and whose family are living off $2 a day, can so easily access the lifestyle of the affluent West and how easily resultant jealousy is manipulated by the extremists and the fundamentalists. All of this is not to say that there is anything wrong with economic success. Of course not, it’s what makes the world go round. However, we
ignore poverty at our own peril! As John Wesley said “there is nothing wrong with money, it’s just a question of what you do with it!” As a very wise friend of mine said, one might also add it’s also a question of what it does to you! Enough of the negatives! We are also seeing the green shoots of global economic recovery. That is a wonderful thing after so many years of uncertainty following the great crash of 2008. We are also seeing some really encouraging signs in the worldwide church and, in particular, from the Roman Catholic Church. Who would have believed that the Vatican Councils would now be seriously considering communion for divorcees, women priests, the role of gay people in the church and perhaps most excitingly of all, the role (or not!) of pomp and ceremony in the Church of Christ. Pope Francis is a huge inspiration to so many and perhaps that is the reason why Roman Catholic congregations throughout the world are expanding considerably. And in our own Anglican communion … the Church of England has finally entered the 21st century and agreed to ordain women as Bishops. Hallelujah! Only 20 years late, but at least we got there! Of course, there is still the whole question of gay priests and whether they should be ordained as Bishops as well? For me and many of us, any kind of exclusion is not honouring the God that is all loving and all embracing. As a worldwide community, we are also celebrating some extraordinary scientific achievements. What a wonderful vision it was to see a 10 year endeavour succeed in the landing of a scientific exploration vehicle on the face of a comet! I have a feeling that God will be smiling hugely! As I said earlier, our local Church has seen much activity during the year. We have welcomed an increasing number of visiting priests from the UK, from the USA, from Canada, from France and many other places. We will be welcoming a number of new visiting priests during the course of the coming year. We are immensely grateful to all of them because of course they enrich our worship so much. As a result, we have been able to cover almost
The Church Year (cont’d)
the entire year with a Eucharistic and priestly presence. We have also been blessed by the lay ministry of the core group of our local congregation. Philip Trangmar, our Parish Administrator, and Trinette Wellesley-Wesley have led Morning Prayer on those Sundays where there has been no priest on the island and have done extraordinarily well in this important ministry. Let me expand a little bit on Philip’s role in the Church. He has made an enormous difference not just to my life (making it considerably easier) but also to the life of the Church. With Philip as Parish Administrator we are now seeing an administrative function that is considerably more efficient than it has been to date. His function will continue to expand and we hope to be opening a Parish Office in the Romney Hughes Church Centre for several mornings each week. This will add an additional point of contact for all of those who need, in some way, to reach out to our Church. Philip has also been spearheading the creation of our new website, an arduous task, which will be launched in early December. We are all immensely grateful to Philip and of course to Rachel for everything that they do for us. More of this later! Organisationally, I’m delighted that we have been able to further expand the Vestry. Nancy Swann and Dr Richard Lester have agreed to join and we are extremely fortunate in having been able to secure their support. We now have a Vestry that has a significant depth of understanding and talent which of course is so vital for the administration and overall health of the Church. This is particularly important during this upcoming year or two as we launch our 1855 Appeal for the Church.
This Appeal is of fundamental importance for the Church going forward. Over the last 12 years, we have managed to build a new Church centre, and expand the spiritual depth and base of the Church. It is now time to put the physical Church and its Vicarage into a state of repair where it can survive for the next generation. If we can achieve that then I think we can be proud of having left the Church in a better state than we found it! It is our intention to launch this Appeal at the end of 2014. This Appeal will relate to both the Vicarage and the Church. It is our intention to refurbish the inside of the Church, maintaining its existing character but repairing all of the woodwork and stonework and roofing that so urgently needs to be done. At this time, we are still refining our plans in relation to the Vicarage but this will be announced in detai,l in the not too distant future. You will be able to find all of the details on this Appeal on our new web site and also information that will be distributed nearer the time. This is such an important initiative for the Church and
I very much hope that you will support it, either by giving directly to the Church or through our dedicated charitable fund in the United States ‘The Friends of St Bartholomew’ Anglican Church’. Do please chat to me, or any of the trustees or Lay leadership if you’d like some more information. From a spiritual perspective, I’m delighted by the expansion of our weekly series of events. This year, we have added a Taizé group which meets on a Tuesday evening at 7pm. This is a wonderful space of candlelight, of incense, of silence, of music – with no words – where we can just ‘be’. It is a space where we can gaze on God and allow God to gaze on us. I’m delighted to say it (Cont’d overleaf)
A Christmas Tradition For many years the Church has held a Service of Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve. It has become one of the ‘must do’ events on St Barts over the Christmas period and has proved so popular that, in order to be assured of a seat, one must arrive at least 30 minutes beforehand. If only we had more seating! The tradition of this service emanates from King’s College, Cambridge – which has a Boys’ School with a world-renowned choir, as well as a choral undergraduate programme that is part of Cambridge University.
The College was founded by King Henry VI in the late 1400s. The Chapel at King's College, completed in the 1530s, is rightly regarded as one of the greatest examples of English Gothic architecture. For a building built almost 500 years ago, it is astounding that it has the world's largest fan-vaulted ceiling; and the chapel's stained-glass windows and wooden chancel screen are considered some of the finest from that era. The much-photographed building has become an emblem of Cambridge. The service of Lessons and Carols forming part of the Christmas worship is based on a format drawn up in 1880 by The Most Revd Edward Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, for use on Christmas Eve. The format as we know it today, with alternating readings and carols sung by the congregation and choir, was conceived by Eric Milner-White, the Dean of King’s College and first performed in 1918. The service follows the promise of the Messiah and the birth of Jesus told in Bible readings from the Old Testament and the Gospels, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols. The King’s College service is broadcast live on Christmas Eve by BBC Radio 3 and many NPR stations in the US. If you want to join us here on St Barts, remember to arrive early! Page 3
The Church Year (cont’d) has gained considerable traction and I do very much hope that you will visit during your next stay on the island. Wednesday’s spirituality group is now studying another wonderful book by Richard Rohr ‘Immortal Diamond’ and the meditation group continues to thrive. During the year, we have celebrated 11 weddings, 7 baptisms and 1 funeral. Mass was celebrated 50 times during the year with a total throughput of the Church of some 4,710 people. It is such a privilege to be part of such important moments in so many people’s lives. As I said last year, I continue to find it enormously exciting and fulfilling that this is a Church where we celebrate the richness of our diversity. People from so many different cultures, colours, life experiences and backgrounds come through our doors. For me that is a wonderful demonstration of the Divine personality. We are a Church where everybody and everything is welcomed, an inclusive Church where I really do believe ‘everything belongs’. One of the really sad bits of news from this year is that our dear and much loved music director Shirley Dern died in May. She was only 42. It has been a profound shock to the Church community, the Chorale and of course the wider island community. She made a huge difference to the Church. She so ably and willingly took over from Charles Darden – Donations: We are an entirely selffunded church and dependent on your generosity and regular giving. Do please talk to Father Charlie or one of the Church’s leadership about how to most effectively support the Church. If you are a US citizen, giving through our US charitable foundation, The Friends of St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, is tax deductible. Please visit our web site to find out more information about the structure of the Church and our US 501(c)(3) Foundation. Photos: Thanks to Philip Trangmar, Mandie Vere Nicoll and Rick for the use of their photographs. All are copyrighted. Published by: L’Association d’Eglise Anglicane, Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy 97133
Sermon Podcasts
an almost impossible task – and did extremely well. She is much missed. God Bless you Shirley! As with all deaths, there is always new life. I’m quite delighted that Ombeline Collin has agreed to take over as our Director of Music, ably assisted by Michael Parisot as our new pianist. I really look forward to you experiencing their wonderful music ministry when you next come down. They are doing extraordinarily well, so ably supported by Lloyd Younger during much of the year. As always, I’d very much like to thank everybody who gives so generously to the Church here. Particularly, I’d like to thank the Trustees of The Friends of St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church in the USA for all the tireless help and support that they give us. Without all of you, the Church community would not be what it is today. All of us here much look forward to seeing you when you’re next on island and thank you again for all of your support. With love and blessings, Charlie
We know how much people enjoy listening to Father Charlie's Sunday sermons, as well as those of our other Visiting Priests. As a large number of our congregation are unable to be with us every Sunday, we are now recording them (including the traffic noise from outside, so you’ll feel that you are actually there!). Our sermon podcast web page will allow you to hear all of our Sermons at home, wherever you may be. You just need to visit the updated web site - see below for the address (which is unchanged). You can listen to them on the web site, download them to your own computer or smart phone, or subscribe to them using iTunes. Whichever you choose, you can now keep up-to-date with the latest spiritual message coming from our Church each Sunday.
AA Group Meetings Every Tuesday and Friday evening at 6pm there is an Open Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is held in English in the Romney Hughes Church Centre, to the left of the Anglican Church in Gustavia. The Group is held in French every Friday at 7pm, also in the Centre. If you think you, or someone you know, would benefit - please do come along. For more information, you can call or text either 0690 541799 or 0690 656122.
Bishop: The Rt Revd Errol Brooks, Bishop, NE Caribbean & Aruba Vicar: The Revd Charlie Vere Nicoll – 0590 27 13 06 Parish Administrator: Philip Trangmar Wardens: Marjorie Romney, Trinette Wellesley-Wesley and Rachel Barrett-Trangmar Vestry: The Wardens, Clarion Romney, Dawn Drouant, Lloyd Younger , Nancy Swann, Dr Richard Lester and Philip Trangmar Treasurer: Alex Harbord Director of Music: Ombeline Collin Church Pianist: Michael Parisot Website: www.stbartholomewsanglicanchurch.com Email: info.stbartholomews@gmail.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/stbartschurch.stbarts The Friends of St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church US Charitable Foundation Chairman: Bill Barrett Contact: c/o Ms Ann Green, P.O. Box 6199, Fair Haven, New Jersey 07704, United States. Tel: (from the US) (732) 741 1500 Email: anncwgreen@aol.com Page 4